Sumlin: True freshman ‘has won’ starting gig at free safety; more nuggets from radio show

COLLEGE STATION – Texas A&M defensive coordinator Mark Snyder has said while the Aggies might play as many as seven true freshmen on defense on Thursday night at South Carolina, he’s aiming to line up each next to “an older guy” for on-field direction during the game.

On Monday night during his weekly radio show with host Dave South, Aggies coach Kevin Sumlin explained that philosophy further. Sumlin said that freshman Armani Watts, for instance, “has won” the starting job at free safety, following an exceptional camp.

“(And) Howard will be there with Armani,” Sumlin said on the show.

That’s Howard Matthews, a senior strong safety who’s earned plenty of experience over the past three seasons – and can now take Watts by the hand (the coaches hope it doesn’t get to that extreme, of course).

“Armani is extremely talented, (but) he’s a young guy and has no idea …” Sumlin explained of Watts’ lack of experience in such a big-time setting. “And no matter how much we try to duplicate, anybody who’s ever been to (South Carolina) and seen the game-day atmosphere … There’s a reason why they’ve won 18 games in a row there – they lead the country in home wins (in a row).

“The game-day atmosphere is as good as there is in the country. For a young guy to go into that – there’s no way to duplicate that. We’ve got to have some (older) guys around who can kind of let him play and direct traffic and settle the (young) guys down. Young guys are in the ‘what to do’ stage, not the ‘how to do it’ or being able to communicate or lead. You try to pair those guys up and free them up to use their athletic ability, and be able to play.”

Watts is expected to start in front of senior Floyd Raven. More highlights (and low blows) from Sumlin’s first weekly radio show of the season:

* He said the team has started practicing at 5 p.m., to mimic the 5 p.m. start in a few days.

“We’re just trying to get our body clocks used to the game time and the amount of heat,” Sumlin said. “It’s substantially warmer at 5 o’clock than it is at 6 or 7.”

* Senior left guard Jarvis Harrison, who owns 30 starts in the three previous seasons, is fighting for his gig after arriving at camp overweight, Sumlin told South.

“He’s been trying to get back but Garrett Gramling and Joseph Cheek have played a lot of football for us (in camp),” Sumlin said of the two guards who’ve come on strong in the past couple of weeks.

The Aggies’ offensive line on Thursday night likely will consist of left tackle Cedric Ogbuehi, Gramling at left guard, center Mike Matthews, Cheek at right guard and right tackle Germain Ifedi.

“We feel good about the guys we’re going to put on the field on Thursday,” Sumlin said.

* Sumlin on what he hopes is a budding defensive line: “We’ve got substantially more depth in the defensive front.”

* Sumlin praised his players for having done “a great job of being competitive and not combative” in camp.

“They’ve remained teammates,” he told South. “Once you start talking about who’s going to start and who’s going to play, some feelings get hurt. But ultimately guys have to keep competing, because that’s what makes our team better.”

* The coach again praised the new NCAA rule allowing coaches to spend two hours a week with their players during the summer, claiming it was especially beneficial with his newcomers.

“They’re able to hit the ground running, and some of them bypass some guys who’ve been here for a while,” Sumlin said.

* As expected, junior Trey Williams will return kicks for a third consecutive season, and freshman Speedy Noil will earn first crack at returning punts, Sumlin told South.

“We’ve practiced a bunch with him,” Sumlin said of Noil, a five-star prospect at receiver, on the always-tricky proposition of snagging punts. “And he’s shown he can handle it.”